More About Me and BillHendricks.net

I'm a Native Texan. Ten years in New England. But otherwise, I’ve lived in Dallas my whole life.

My Dad was a legendary professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. He taught there for 60 years. It’s hard to even estimate how many people his life has touched. Thanks to him and my mom, our family took education really seriously.

I graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas, then went on to Harvard and majored in English. I guess because I’ve always been interested in stories and meaning. Plus I wanted to learn to read and write. Alas, I graduated without finding the meaning of life. And it wasn’t until years later that I finally had enough time to actually read. Likewise, it wasn’t until graduate school that someone taught me the craft of writing.

While in Boston I met and married Nancy. She was everything I am not: thoroughly practical, ruthlessly persuasive, and an amazing planner.

Nancy died of breast cancer in 2000. I instantly became a single-parent dad, which I was for the next 8-1/2 years.

But then I met and married Lynn, who is also everything I am not: thoroughly practical, ruthlessly pragmatic, and phenomenally well networked. She has her own consulting practice helping visionary thought-leaders execute strategies and build organizations.

In the background of these personal narratives. . .

I’ve always earned my living as a consultant. For the first ten years or so, I specialized in communication projects. To-date I have authored or co-authored twenty published books, along with countless articles, videos, curriculum, etc. I also served as something of a consigliere to lots and lots of leaders (something I’ve been doing since junior high school, believe it or not).

About 18 years ago I reinvented my practice around the phenomenon of human giftedness. Someone helped me discover my own giftedness when I was 30, and it changed my life. I realized I could do the same thing for other people—and in the process make good use of my own giftedness.

So I created what is now calledThe Giftedness Center. My sister Bev Godby works with me. She specializes in high school and college students, recent graduates, and women in transition.

The Giftedness Center is for the person who wants to figure out how to live a meaningful, fulfilling life. A life that matters. A life lived intentionally, with a sense of purpose and direction.

Not that everyone who comes our way articulates that longing at the outset. Most people come with thoroughly practical questions. . .

Like young adults asking, what should I do with my life?

Or young professionals wondering, did I make the right choice in choosing this career?

Or men in mid-life feeling restless or dissatisfied with their work and wondering, what are my other options?

Or women whose kidoes have grown up and left home, and they want to know, what should I do now?

We also have a lot of people in the second half, or who are looking at retirement, asking, how can I be productive in my later years of life?

There’s a lot to consider in answering those kinds of questions. But one thing we always come back to is the person’s giftedness. Because the person has to take into account who they are.

That’s what this blog is all about—to serve as your personal reminder to pay attention to who you are and who other people are. I do that by. . .

Facilitating a conversation about the phenomenon of giftedness.

Telling stories of the amazing things that happen when people use their giftedness—and the disastrous things that happen when they don’t.

Pointing you to people I’ve had the privilege of working with, so you can go look at their work, read/hear their stories, and take hope, inspiration, and wisdom for yourself.

Asking questions that make you reflect and go “Huh!” and then respond and take action.

Answering your questions and the questions people ask me all the time about giftedness and how it works—the ones that start with, “But what about. . . ?”

I want my blog to be a celebration of human giftedness. Which is to say, a celebration of you.

You see, people who have “awakened” to their giftedness have joined a kind of club. Everyone in the club feels a You too? sense of amazement and wonder about something they never knew before, but have suddenly discovered. I want my blog to be a place where people who realize that their giftedness matters can connect with the rest of the club—and also invite others into the club.

The truth is, I’m actually something of an introvert. I have lots of ideas and I enjoy writing, so I could probably post every day. But I prefer to write less and think more, so that when I do write, I’m confident and comfortable with what I’m saying.

After all, I want to change the world—one amazing person at a time!

Contacting Me

I invite you to e-mail me at billh@thegiftednesscenter.com or message me through Facebook. Of course, the best way to respond to this blog is to post a comment.

But let me set expectations about how I’m likely to respond if you do write me directly. If I had my way, I’d be like C.S. Lewis, who reportedly wrote a handwritten letter back to each and every person who wrote a letter to him. But then, he lived in the days of snail mail. Plus he was a bachelor and a university don with lots of discretionary time.

I live a very different existence. I get scores if not hundreds of e-mails a day. Many of them ask extremely important questions—and quite often very personal questions. To do justice to such inquiries would require time and attention from me that simply doesn’t exist. So what can I do?

Well, I write and produce materials that hopefully answer people’s questions. So if I write you back and say, “Thanks for your query. I suggest you go read this or that book or article,” please know that I wrote this or that book or article precisely for you, even though you hadn’t contacted me yet.

Still, you may decide that you want more than this or that book or article addresses. In other words, you want me to personally focus on you and your issue. I’m delighted to do that. I’ve been doing that with people for the past 18 years. So if that’s what you want, please visit my website (thegiftednesscenter.com), where you can look over the services I offer and determine what level of engagement seems appropriate and cost-effective.

Disclaimer

This is my personal blog. Everything written here is my personal opinion and/ or belief, and the opinions and/or beliefs expressed here are solely my own (unless I quote or re-post someone else’s opinion). The opinions expressed here are not necessarily shared or endorsed by any of my clients, including client organizations or groups and communities I am associated with. I make no representation as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or validity of any of the information I share in these writings. By praising and/or endorsing a person, product, practice, entity, idea, or anything else, I am by no means praising and/or endorsing any and everything about that person, product, practice, entity, idea, or thing. I accept no liability for any errors of fact or omissions in regards to facts or assertions. I accept no liability for losses, injuries, or damages arising from anyone’s use of or response to this blog. I reserve the sole right to determine what is posted on this blog, including the right to decide whether comments from readers are appropriate for posting. This blog is a category of free speech governed by and protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. This blog is also a category of intellectual property governed and protected by the Copyright Law of the United States. I encourage readers to familiarize themselves with the Second Amendment and the Copyright Law, as I intend to honor those statutes and, if warranted and left with no other recourse, will seek redress through the enforcement of those statutes. But, of course, I’d prefer to just to have a civil conversation.

Notables With Quotables

About Me

The most important thing to know about me is that I’m far more interested in knowing about you than talking about me.

Because that’s actually what I do all day—I get to know people. In fact, I get to discover the most important thing anyone could know about another human being, which is theirgiftedness.

Most people don’t know what their giftedness is. That’s not good! If you don’t know what your giftedness is, you can’t live intentionally. You just live instinctively and intuitively. Living that way can take a person down a lot of blind alleys. A lot of disappointments and frustrations.

So the most important “about” about me is that I have the coolest job in the world! All day long I get to help people discover what their giftedness is. Then I help them use that insight to pursue the life they most desire in their heart of hearts.